Recyclable thermoplastic packaging

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses disclosed herein relate to a recyclable thermoplastic unit that includes a casing body composed of a first thermoplastic having a first melting point. The casing body also includes a first locking mechanism that is configured to mate with a second locking mechanism of a sacrifice layer. The sacrifice layer is composed of a second thermoplastic and includes the second locking mechanism. The sacrifice layer has a melting point that is greater than the melting point of the casing body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

The present Application is a divisional under 35 U.S.C. § 121 of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/143,173, filed on Jul. 1, 2011, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,932,502 which is a U.S. National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2011/025038, filed onFeb. 16, 2011, and entitled “RECYCLABLE THERMOPLASTIC PACKAGING”. Thedisclosure of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2011/025038 andU.S. application Ser. No. 13/143,173 are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

The following description is provided to assist the understanding of thereader. None of the information provided or references cited is admittedto be prior art.

Casings for electronic products such as personal computers, mobilephones, and game machines are typically made from thermoplastics.Thermoplastic resin can be melted by heating the resin to itsglass-transition temperature or melting point, after which it can bemolded and cooled in a die to form a desired shape. Since moldedthermoplastic resin can be melted again by reheating, the thermoplasticresin is recyclable. However, thermoplastics used for electronicproducts are usually coated with primers that provide a high degree ofadhesion between the thermoplastic casing products and the electronicproduct's coatings. These primers and coatings are not easily removablefrom the thermoplastic casing. The primers and coatings are notrecyclable, and this has prevented some thermoplastic materials frombeing recycled.

SUMMARY

An illustrative process includes molding a casing body using a moldingapparatus, the casing body being a first thermoplastic with a firstmelting point and including a first locking mechanism. The processfurther includes molding a sacrifice layer with a second thermoplastichaving a second melting point and a second locking mechanism that isconfigured to mate with the first locking mechanism. The second meltingpoint is higher than the first melting point. The process furtherincludes locking the molded sacrifice layer onto the casing body bymating the first locking mechanism with the second locking mechanism.

An illustrative article of manufacture includes a sacrifice layercomposed of a thermoplastic. The sacrifice layer includes a firstlocking mechanism configured to mate with a second locking mechanism ofa casing body. The thermoplastic has a melting point that is greaterthan the melting point of the casing body.

An illustrative apparatus includes a casing body composed of a firstthermoplastic having a first melting point. The casing body includes afirst locking mechanism. The illustrative apparatus also has a sacrificelayer composed of a second thermoplastic having a second melting point.The sacrifice layer includes a second locking mechanism that isconfigured to mate with the first locking mechanism. Further, the secondmelting point is greater than the first melting point.

Another illustrative apparatus includes a means for molding a casingbody with a first thermoplastic having a first melting point. The casingbody includes a first locking mechanism. The apparatus further has ameans for molding a sacrifice layer with a second thermoplastic having asecond melting point. The molded sacrifice layer includes a secondlocking mechanism that is configured to mate with the first lockingmechanism. The second melting point is greater than the first meltingpoint. The apparatus further including a means for locking the moldedsacrifice layer onto the casing body by mating the first lockingmechanism with the second locking mechanism.

In another illustrative process, a method includes molding a sacrificelayer composed of a thermoplastic. The sacrifice layer includes a firstlocking mechanism configured to mate with a second locking mechanism ofa casing body. The thermoplastic has a melting point that is greaterthan the melting point of the casing body.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the following drawings and thedetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will becomemore fully apparent from the following description and appended claims,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding thatthese drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with thedisclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of itsscope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity anddetail through use of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-section view of an illustrative embodiment of arecyclable thermoplastic unit.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting operations performed in assembling arecyclable thermoplastic unit in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting operations performed in recycling arecyclable thermoplastic unit in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative computer system which can control theassembly and/or recycling operations described herein.

FIG. 5 is a focused-section view of a recyclable thermoplastic unit inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in awide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitlycontemplated and made part of this disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a cross-section view of an illustrative embodiment of arecyclable thermoplastic unit 100. The recyclable thermoplastic unit 100can be used to encase electronic components, to form packaging forgoods, to form a storage container, to form a trash or recycling bin,and/or for any other product which can be formed from a thermoplastic.In an illustrative embodiment, recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 can beused to encase personal computers, mobile phones and personal digitalassistants, gaming machines or devices, televisions, landlinetelephones, vehicles (car, tracks, loading shovels, roller coasters,boats, etc), food trays, televisions, displays, telephones, FAXmachines, air conditioner, refrigerators, etc.

The recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 includes a casing body 140. In anillustrative embodiment, the casing body 140 can be formed from one ormore thermoplastics. Thermoplastics that may be used in the casing body140 can include, but are not limited to, polyethylene (PE),polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile styrene acrylic ester copolymer(ASA), polyamide (PA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), polyacetals (POM),polyphenylene ether (PPE), unsaturated polyester resins (UP),polyurethane (PUR), cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), ethylene-vinylacetate (EVA), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), liquid crystal polymer(LCP), polyacrylates (Acrylic), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyamide-imide(PAI), polyaryletherketone (PAEK), polybutadiene (PBD), polybutylene(PB), polycaprolactone (PCL), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE),polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycyclohexylene dimethyleneterephthalate (PCT), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), polyketone (PK),polyethylene (PE), polyester, polyetheretherketone (PEEK),polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyetherimide (PEI), polyethersulfone(PES), chlorinated polyethylene (CPE), polyimide (PI), polylactic acid(PLA), polymethylpentene (PMP), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polyphenylenesulfide (PPS), polyphthalamide (PPA), polystyrene (PS), polysulfone(PSU), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), polyurethane (PU),polyvinyl acetate (PVA), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC),styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), etc. The casing body 140 can be variousthicknesses. For instance, the casing body 140 can be, but is notlimited to, about 0.25 millimeter (mm), about 0.5 mm, about 1 mm, about10 mm, and about 100 mm.

In an illustrative embodiment, the casing body 140 can be formed using amolding apparatus. The molding apparatus can heat a thermoplastic to atleast its melting point (or glass-transition temperature) and pour themelted thermoplastic into a die of a desired shape. The desired shape ofthe casing body 140 can depend on the intended use of the recyclablethermoplastic unit 100. The processes and tools for molding athermoplastic are well known to those of skill in the art and are notdescribed in detail herein.

The recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 also includes a sacrifice layer130. In an illustrative embodiment, the sacrifice layer 130 can becomposed of one or more thermoplastic that has a higher melting pointthan the melting point of the casing body 140. The sacrifice layer 130can be composed of polyamide, polybutylene, or any other thermoplastichaving a higher melting point than that of the casing body 140. Thesacrifice layer 130 can be made of, but is not limited to, anythermoplastic such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinylchloride (PVC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrilestyrene acrylic ester copolymer (ASA), polyamide (PA), polybutyleneterephthalate (PBT), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC),polyacetals (POM), polyphenylene ether (PPE), unsaturated polyesterresins (UP), polyurethane (PUR), cyclic olefin copolymer (COC),ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), liquidcrystal polymer (LCP), polyacrylates (Acrylic), polyacrylonitrile (PAN),polyamide-imide (PAI), polyaryletherketone (PAEK), polybutadiene (PBD),polybutylene (PB), polycaprolactone (PCL), polychlorotrifluoroethylene(PCTFE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycyclohexylene dimethyleneterephthalate (PCT), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), polyketone (PK),polyethylene (PE), polyester, polyetheretherketone (PEEK),polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyetherimide (PEI), polyethersulfone(PES), chlorinated polyethylene (CPE), polyimide (PI), polylactic acid(PLA), polymethylpentene (PMP), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polyphenylenesulfide (PPS), polyphthalamide (PPA), polystyrene (PS), polysulfone(PSU), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), polyurethane (PU),polyvinyl acetate (PVA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidenechloride (PVDC), styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), and etc. The sacrificelayer 130 can be various thicknesses. For instance, the sacrifice layer130 can be, but is not limited to, about 0.1 millimeter (mm), about 0.25mm, about 0.5 mm, about 1 mm, about 10 mm, and about 100 mm. The moldingprocess used to form the sacrifice layer 130 can be similar to themolding process used to form the casing body 140. In an alternativeembodiment, the molding process used to form the sacrifice layer 130 canbe different from the molding process used to form the casing body 140.As discussed in more detail below, in another alternative embodiment,the sacrifice layer 130 may not have a melting point higher than that ofthe casing body 140. In such an embodiment, the melting point of thesacrifice layer 130 may be the same as or less than the melting point ofthe casing body 140.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the casing body 140 includes a lockingmechanism that includes a series of grooves and protrusions 150. Thesacrifice layer 130 similarly includes a locking mechanism that includesa series of grooves and protrusions 160 that are configured to mate withthe series of grooves and protrusions 150 of the casing body 140. In oneembodiment, the series of grooves and protrusions 150 can snap into theseries of grooves and protrusions 160 to interlock the sacrifice layer130 to the casing body 140. The snapping of the series of grooves andprotrusions 150 into the series of grooves and protrusions 160 can forma friction fit so that the sacrifice layer 130 is anchored to the casingbody 140. To accomplish this, in one illustrative embodiment thesacrifice layer 130 includes grooves that interlock or mate withcorresponding grooves in the casing body 140 to anchor the sacrificelayer 130 to the casing body 140.

In one embodiment, to provide even stronger anchoring between thesacrifice layer 130 and the casing body 140, the sacrifice layer 130 maybe rotated by some angle relative to the casing body 140. Alternatively,the casing body 140 may be rotated by some angle relative to thesacrifice layer 130. FIG. 5 illustrates a focused section of a casingbody 140 that includes a slot 510. The sacrifice layer 130 includes aprotrusion 520 that fits within the slot 510 of the casing body 140. Thecasing body 140 may be rotated such that the slot 510 and the protrusioninterlock. In an illustrative embodiment, the angle of rotation betweenthe sacrifice layer 130 and the casing body 140 can be 90 degrees. Inalternative embodiments, the angle of rotation may be 30 degrees, 45degrees, 60 degrees, 120 degrees, 180 degrees, or any other angle. Inanother embodiment, the sacrifice layer 130 can include a groove 530 foruse in rotating the sacrifice layer 130 relative to the casing body 140.Other non-limiting examples include the casing body 140 having a grooveor both the casing body 140 and the sacrifice layer 130 having groovesfor use in rotating the casing body 140 and the sacrifice layer 130relative to one another.

In an alternative embodiment, the series of grooves and protrusions 150and the series of grooves and protrusions 160 may have a different shapeand/or configuration than that illustrated in FIG. 1. In one embodiment,the casing body 140 (or the sacrifice layer 130) may include a series ofcylindrical posts that are configured to mate with a series ofcylindrical holes in the sacrifice layer 130 (or the casing body 140).In an alternative embodiment, the series of posts and holes may besquare, triangular, rectangular, or any other shape. In anotheralternative embodiment, the posts and the holes can be placed along theperimeter of the sacrifice layer 130 and the casing body 140.

The recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 also includes a primer layer 120.In an illustrative embodiment, the primer layer 120 can be applieddirectly to the sacrifice layer 130. The primer layer 120 is a highlyadhesive coating that can be difficult to remove from the sacrificelayer 130. The primer layer 120 provides a high degree of adhesionbetween a coating layer 110 and the sacrifice layer 130. The primerlayer 120 can be applied by any method known to those of skill in theart, such as, but not limited to spray painting, roller painting, brushpainting, or dipping painting. Various primer can be used such as thosemade of, but not limited to, urethane, urea formaldehyde resin, urethaneprepolymer, polyurethane, epoxy resin, ketone, ketimine compounds withketimine (C═N) bond, polyol, polyisocyanate, polyolefin, urethane resin,acyl resin, diol with carboxyl group and mixtures of the abovechemicals. The processes, materials, and tools for applying a primerlayer onto a thermoplastic are well known to those of skill in the art.

In one embodiment, the primer layer 120 can be used for adjusting athickness of the recyclable thermoplastic body 100. The primer layer 120can be increased in thickness, resulting in a thicker thermoplastic body100. The thickness of the primer lay 120 can also be decreased,resulting in a thinner thermoplastic body 100.

In one embodiment the sacrifice layer 130 and the primer layer 120 havesimilar chemical properties, such as melting points. The adhesivenessbetween the sacrifice and primer layer is enhanced by using a primerlayer 120 that has similar chemical properties to the sacrifice layer130.

In an illustrative embodiment, the primer layer 120 can be applied tothe sacrifice layer 130 only. As such, the sacrifice layer 130 can bebetween the primer layer 120 and the casing body 140, and the casingbody 140 does not contact any portion of the primer layer 120.

The recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 also includes a coating layer 110.The coating layer 110 can have various properties based upon the use ofthe recyclable casing 100, such as, but not limited to, antifouling,resistance to solvents, stiffness, water-resistance, and humidityresistance. Various chemicals can be used for the coating layer 110 suchas, but not limited to, polyurethane, vinyl polymer, vinyl polymer withcarbonyl group, diisocyanate, polycarbonate diol, diol with carboxylicgroup, polyurethane prepolymer, and mixtures of the above chemicals. Inone embodiment, the coating layer 110 has an antifouling property byincluding an antifouling agent, such as, but not limited to, a petroleumsolvent, silicone oil, surfactant, silicone oligomer, fluorine, andmixtures of above chemicals. The coating layer 110 may also includepigments, leveling agents, ultraviolet absorbers, and/or conductivematerial additives as long as the chemical properties of the coatinglayer are not affected. Similar to the sacrifice layer 130, the coatinglayer 110 can be substantially thinner than the casing body 140.

In an illustrative embodiment, the coating layer 110 can be applied tothe primer layer 120, and the primer layer 120 can adhere the coatinglayer 110 to the recyclable thermoplastic unit 100. The coating layer110 allows various graphics, text, and other indicia to be displayed onthe recyclable thermoplastic unit 100. The relatively high adhesionbetween the coating layer 110 and the primer layer 120 can make thegraphics, text, and other indicia difficult to remove from the sacrificelayer 130. The processes, materials, and tools for applying a coatinglayer onto a primer layer are well known to those of skill in the artand are not described in detail herein.

In an illustrative embodiment, the casing body 140 is only in contactwith the sacrifice layer 130 so that the casing body 140 remainsseparated from the primer layer 120 and the coating layer 110. As such,the casing body 140 can be detached from the sacrifice layer 130, theprimer layer 120, and the coating layer 110 by detaching the casing body140 from the sacrifice layer 130. Once detached, the casing body 140 canbe recycled in accordance with any recycling method known to those ofskill in the art. In one embodiment, the casing body 140 can be detachedfrom the sacrifice layer 130 by unsnapping or otherwise removing theseries of grooves and protrusions 150 of the casing body 140 from theseries of grooves and protrusions 160 of the sacrifice layer 130 so thatthe grooves and protrusions are no longer interlocked. If the casingbody 140 was rotated by an angle to anchor the casing body 140 to thesacrifice layer 130, the casing body 140 can be rotated by the angle inthe opposite direction to detach the casing body 140 from the sacrificelayer 130. Similarly, if the sacrifice layer 130 was rotated by an angleto anchor the sacrifice layer 130 to the casing body 140, the sacrificelayer 130 can be rotated by the angle in the opposite direction todetach the sacrifice layer 130 from the casing body 140. In such anembodiment where the casing body 140 can be detached from the sacrificelayer 130 by unlocking the interlocking components, the melting point ofthe sacrifice layer 130 may be less than, equal to, or greater than themelting point of the casing body 140.

In some embodiments, it may be extremely difficult to remove the casingbody 140 from the sacrifice layer 130 once the series of grooves andprotrusions 150 of the casing body 140 are interlocked with the seriesof grooves and protrusions 160 of the sacrifice layer 130. Thedifficultly can arise as a result of a tight frictional fit between thecorresponding grooves and protrusions and/or as a result of any rotationbetween the casing body 140 and the sacrifice layer 130. In oneembodiment, the casing body 140 may be melted to the sacrifice layer 130to anchor the casing body 140 to the sacrifice layer 130. The meltingcan be performed after the series of grooves and protrusions 150 of thecasing body 140 are interlocked with the series of grooves andprotrusions 160 of the sacrifice layer 130. In an alternativeembodiment, the casing body 140 and the sacrifice layer 130 may notinclude any grooves or protrusions, and the casing body 140 can beanchored to the sacrifice layer 130 solely by melting the casing body140 to the sacrifice layer 130.

In embodiments where it may be difficult to simply detach the casingbody 140 from the sacrifice layer 130 (e.g., where melting is involvedin the anchoring process or where there is a tight frictional fitbetween the casing body 140 and the sacrifice layer 130), the recyclablethermoplastic unit 100 can be designed so that the casing body 140 has alower melting point than the sacrifice layer 130. The casing body 140can be composed of thermoplastics including, but not limited to,polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, or acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene. The sacrifice layer 130 can be composed ofthermoplastics including, but not limited to, polyproylene orpolybutylene. In one embodiment, the casing body 140 can be composed ofacrylonitrile butadiene styrene, which has a melting point of 105degrees Celsius, and the sacrifice layer 130 can be composed ofpolybutylene, which has a melting point of 220 degrees Celsius. Inanother embodiment, the casing body 140 can be composed of polyethylene,which has a melting point between 120-130 degrees Celsius, and thesacrifice layer 130 can be composed of polypropylene, which has amelting point between 160-166 degrees Celsius. Other embodiments arealso possible. A sacrifice layer 130 can be made of any thermoplasticthat has a higher melting point than the casing body 140.

In an embodiment where the casing body 140 has a lower melting pointthan the sacrifice layer 130, the casing body 140 can be detached fromthe sacrifice layer 130 by heating the casing body 140 to a temperaturethat is greater than or equal to the melting point of the casing body140 and less than the melting point of the sacrifice layer 130. Theheating may be accomplished using a heater, an oven, or any otherheating device known to those of skill in the art. Once the casing body140 is heated to or above its melting point, the casing body 140 can beallowed to melt away from the sacrifice layer 130, thereby detaching thecasing body 140. Once detached, the casing body 140 may be recycledaccording to any recycling process known to those of skill in the art.The casing body 140 may be reused in whole, melted and remolded, meltedand combined with another material, etc.

The primer layer 120 and the coating layer 110 are typically notrecyclable. The sacrifice layer 130, therefore, is also typically notrecyclable as the primer layer 120 and the coating layer 110 remainattached to the sacrifice layer 130 after the casing body 140 has beenremoved. Accordingly, the sacrifice layer 130 can be substantiallythinner than the casing body 140 to minimize the amount of thermoplasticwaste. For instance, the sacrifice layer 130 can be, but is not limitedto, about 0.1 millimeter (mm), about 0.25 mm, about 0.5 mm, about 1 mm,about 10 mm, and about 100 mm and, the casing body 140 can be, but isnot limited to, about 0.25 millimeter (mm), about 0.5 mm, about 1 mm,about 10 mm, and about 100 mm.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting operations performed in assemblingthe recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment. Additional, fewer, and/or different operations may beperformed depending on the particular implementation. In an operation210, the casing body 140 is created. The casing body 140 can be createdby molding a thermoplastic into a desired shape. The desired shape ofthe casing body 140 can depend on the intended use of the recyclablethermoplastic unit 100. In an operation 220, a sacrifice layer 130 iscreated. The sacrifice layer 130 can be created in a similar manner asthe casing body 140. The processes and tools for molding a thermoplasticare well known to those of skill in the art and are not described indetail herein.

In an operation 230, the sacrifice layer 130 is attached to the casingbody 140 through various locking mechanisms. Locking mechanisms mayinclude, but are not limited to, a corresponding series of grooves andprotrusions, or posts and corresponding holes. If stronger adhesionsbetween the sacrifice layer 130 and the casing body 140 is needed, thesacrifice layer 130 may be rotated by some angle relative to the casingbody 140 after the series of grooves and protrusions 150 are interlockedwith the series of grooves and protrusions 160. Alternatively, thecasing body 140 may be rotated by some angle relative to the sacrificelayer 130. In an illustrative embodiment, the angle of rotation betweenthe sacrifice layer 130 and the casing body 140 can be 90 degrees. Inalternative embodiments, the angle of rotation may be 30 degrees, 45degrees, 60 degrees, 120 degrees, 180 degrees, or any other angle. In analternative embodiment, the casing body 140 can be attached to thesacrifice layer 130 by melting the casing body 140 onto the sacrificelayer 130. The casing body 140 may be melted onto the sacrifice layer130 regardless of whether any locking mechanism and/or rotation are usedto secure the sacrifice layer 130 to the casing body 140.

In an operation 240, a primer layer 120 is applied to at least a portionof the sacrifice layer 130. The primer layer 120 provides a high degreeof adhesion between the coating layer 110 and the sacrifice layer 130.In an operation 250, the coating layer 110 is applied to at least aportion of the primer layer 120. Text, graphics, or other indicia can beapplied to the recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 via the coating layer110.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting operations performed in recycling arecyclable thermoplastic unit 100 in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment. Additional, fewer, and/or different operations may beperformed depending on the particular implementation. In an operation310, the recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 is heated. In one embodiment,the recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 is heated to a temperature to meltthe casing body 140. In another embodiment, the recyclable thermoplasticunit 100 is heated to a temperature that is above the melting point ofthe casing body 140, but below the melting point of the sacrifice layer130. In an operation 320, the sacrifice layer 130 is detached from thecasing body 140. The casing body 140 can be detached from the sacrificelayer 130 by melting the casing body off of the sacrifice layer 130. Ifthe casing body 140 was rotated by an angle to anchor the casing body140 to the sacrifice layer 130, the casing body 140 can be rotated bythe angle in the opposite direction to detach the casing body 140 fromthe sacrifice layer 130. Similarly, if the sacrifice layer 130 wasrotated by an angle to anchor the sacrifice layer 130 to the casing body140, the sacrifice layer 130 can be rotated by the angle in the oppositedirection to detach the sacrifice layer 130 from the casing body 140. Inan operation 330, the casing body 140 is recycled in accordance with anyrecycling method known to those of skill in the art.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative computer system which can control theassembly and/or recycling operations described herein. The computingsystem 400 includes a bus 405 or other communication mechanism forcommunicating information and a processor 410 coupled to the bus 405 forprocessing information. The computing system 400 also includes mainmemory 415 such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storagedevice, a read only memory (ROM) 420, and a storage device 425 such as asolid state device, magnetic disk, or optical disk. In alternativeembodiments, fewer, additional, and/or different types of memory orstorage may be included in the computing system 400. The main memory415, the ROM 420, and the storage device 425 are coupled to the bus 405for communication with and access by the processor 410. The main memory415, the ROM 420, and/or the storage device 425 can be configured tostore information and/or computer-readable instructions that are to beexecuted by the processor 410. The computer-readable instructions can beused to implement any of the operations described herein with respect toassembly, disassembly, and/or recycling of the recyclable thermoplasticunit 100.

The computing system 400 may be coupled via the bus 405 to a display435, such as a liquid crystal display, or active matrix display, fordisplaying information to a user. An input device 430, such as akeyboard including alphanumeric and other keys, may be coupled to thebus 405 for communicating instructions, information, and commandselections to the processor 410. In another embodiment, the input device430 has a touch screen display 435. The input device 430 can include acursor control, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys,for communicating direction information and command selections to theprocessor 410 and for controlling cursor movement on the display 435.

According to various embodiments, the processes of assembling andrecycling the recyclable thermoplastic unit 100 can be provided by thecomputing system 400 in response to the processor 410 executing anarrangement of instructions contained in the main memory 415. Suchinstructions can be read into the main memory 415 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as the storage device 425. Execution ofthe arrangement of instructions contained in the main memory 415 causesthe computing system 400 to perform the illustrative processes describedherein. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement mayalso be employed to execute the instructions contained in the mainmemory 415. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be usedin place of or in combination with software instructions to implementillustrative embodiments. Thus, embodiments are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

One or more flow diagrams have been used herein. The use of flowdiagrams is not meant to be limiting with respect to the order ofoperations performed. The herein-described subject matter sometimesillustrates different components contained within, or connected with,different other components. It is to be understood that such depictedarchitectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many otherarchitectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality.In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the samefunctionality is effectively “associated” such that the desiredfunctionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined toachieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” eachother such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected,” or“operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable” to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of “operably couplable” include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may not be expressly set forth herein forthe sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

The foregoing description of illustrative embodiments has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and of description. It is not intended tobe exhaustive or limiting with respect to the precise form disclosed,and modifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from practice of the disclosed embodiments.It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claimsappended hereto and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a casing body composedof a first thermoplastic having a first melting point, wherein thecasing body includes a first locking mechanism; a sacrifice layercomposed of a second thermoplastic having a second melting point,wherein the sacrifice layer attaches to the casing body, wherein thesecond melting point is greater than the first melting point, whereinthe sacrifice layer includes a second locking mechanism configured tomate with the first locking mechanism, and wherein the first lockingmechanism and the second locking mechanism are shaped such that thecasing body and the sacrifice layer mate by a rotational interaction ofthe first locking mechanism relative to the second locking mechanism;and a primer layer, wherein the sacrifice layer is located between theprimer layer and the casing body.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a coating layer, wherein the primer layer is located betweenthe coating layer and the sacrifice layer.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the first thermoplastic comprises at least one of polyethylene,polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second thermoplastic comprisesat least one of polyamide or polybutylene.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the casing body has a first thickness and the sacrifice layerhas a second thickness, and wherein the first thickness is greater thanthe second thickness.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the primerlayer has the second melting point.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe primer layer is an adhesive.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe primer layer is in contact with a surface of the sacrifice layerthat is not in contact with the casing body when the sacrifice layer islocked onto the casing body.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thefirst locking mechanism comprises a first set of grooves on a surface ofthe casing body, and further wherein the second locking mechanismcomprises a second set of grooves on a surface of the sacrifice layersuch that the second set of grooves mates with the first set of grooves.10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the casing body and the sacrificelayer are melted together.